Hope Beats Children to Life Story

Hope says he wrote about his life to beat his kids to the job.

“Look what happened to Bing Crosby, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford,” he quipped at a bookstore here Tuesday while signing copies of his autobiography, “Don’t Shoot, It’s Only Me.”

Hope, 87, wrote the book with Melville Shavelson, one of his comedy writers since 1938.

The legendary comedian says he doesn’t worry about death.

“I’ve died many times--in Philadelphia, Jersey City, you name it. I generally don’t feel anything until noon, then it’s time for my nap.”